Uninvited Early Morning Visitor

It was almost time to wake up and I heard something. There has been work out on our street this week, plus it was trash pick-up day so I figured it was that. Then I heard it again and couldn’t place the sound but thought that Mom must have gotten out of bed. I got up, walked in the hall and saw her door was still partly shut but then I heard a noise and a bird came flying down the hallway. Yes, a bird. Of course, I wondered am I really awake, but it wasn’t that early so I walked down the hall and saw the bird flying around the living room. I went to use the bathroom and planned. I went back into my bedroom, closing the door and got dressed. I then walked out in the hall and shut all the bedroom doors. I headed to the kitchen, not seeing the bird and opened the kitchen door and propped it open. I also grabbed the broom and closed the basement door. I went into the living room and opened the front door. By this time I realized the bird was behind the curtain. It was a black bird, not very big. I was still trying to figure how it had gotten in the house as, I saw that no windows were open. I was going to check the basement after I got rid of the bird. I wondered if it had come down the chimney. The fireplace screen was closed but I had heard birds up the chimney during the spring so I had a folding card table up against it and it was still there.

I was reminded of a similar situation over 20 years ago. I was bringing in groceries, opened the kitchen door and as I went over the threshold a chipmunk came in with me. We had a chipmunk that had hung around the house the past few weeks and occasionally you would see it on the carport. I quickly put the groceries down and saw it run into the living room. It seems to be the favorite place for uninvited animals. Mom and I were the only ones living in the house at the time so I ran back and closed all the doors off the hallway. I opened up the kitchen door, got the broom and went into the living room and opened up that door. I then sat on the dining room table so I could see into the kitchen and the living room. I waited. The good news is that it was only about 10 minutes when I saw the chipmunk come out of hiding in the living room and head right out the front door. I quickly shut it and the kitchen door and was cautious coming in and out of the kitchen door after that.

So you see I have had some experience and this time I was hoping it would again only take 10 minutes. I pulled the living room curtain open and the bird now was flying against the window trying to get out. That picture window has a section on each side that you can open. There is not a screen so I pulled up the locks and then tried to turn the crank but couldn’t get it to budge. At this point the bird had gone to the floor. I pulled the couch out some and moved my guitar that was behind the it. I then worked on the other window and got it open. The bird had now moved back up to the ledge and was just sitting there. With the broom I was moving it toward the window. One push and out it went and then I was quickly closing everything. I checked downstairs and found no open windows and then came back up to check the fireplace. There was more give so I readjusted the table and put some plastic bags between the cracks. To be on the safe side I pushed a filebox of school papers against the screen so I would not have any more surprises. Yes, I need to get the chimney sweep here to clean the fireplace and put a screen on it to prevent any more visitors.